Tag: Stucco My House in Boulder City

How to Cover Exterior Brick With Stucco

If your home improvement project involves stucco in Boulder City, you will want to be sure you find the right contractor for the job. It is always important to hire good contractors, but it is especially important when they will be doing work such as stucco installation, which is not as common as other contracting duties. You need to work with a people who know how do to the job properly, so you can be sure it will get done right the first time.

When you get the bids, make sure to ask if the work will be guaranteed once it is completed. A quality stucco contractorwill stand firmly behind their work, so don’t hesitate to ask this question. If the labor and material are not covered by some form of guarantee, you should quickly move on to the next bid. There are plenty of contractors out there who are willing to stand behind their work, so there is no reason to work with one who isn’t.

Stucco can be messy business. Make sure there is a plan in place to protect the rest of your property from the mess that can be made when stucco is put in. You don’t want to be left with a huge cleanup project after your contractor has left the job site, so ask specific questions as to how they will keep the rest of your property as clean as possible.

Hiring a stucco contractordoesn’t need to be a long and drawn out process, as long as you know what you are looking for from the start. Use the points above to guide your search, and only hire a contractor once you are fully satisfied that they are the perfect selection for the work that you need completed.

The Many Benefits Of Stucco

Stucco is a cement-based siding product that is extremely popular around the country. Compared to other siding materials, it fairly easy to maintain and repair. This article discusses how to repair cracks and gouges, and painting stucco. Traditional stucco is a mixture of Portland cement, lime, sand, and water. It is usually about 3/4 inch thick, very porous, and holds on to paint very well. Color can also be mixed into the finishing coat of stucco, eliminating the need to paint.

Repairing cracks

Stucco is tough, but brittle and can sometimes crack as a house shifts or settles. Hairline cracks should not be repaired, so you do not have to try to repair every crack. If you cannot get your fingernail into the crack, paint will usually fill it. For cracks up to 1/4 inch wide, you can repair them with a high-quality, exterior grade, acrylic latex caulk.

Clean loose debris out of the crack using a V-shaped object to get down in the crack. Then you can brush it, or use a vacuum cleaner. Caulk the crack with a paintable silicone caulk and smooth it out with your finger. Using your finger makes it easier to exactly match the existing texture. Use the 50-year kind of caulk for best results.

Wipe off excess caulking with a damp sponge in all directions to clean the rough texture. Here is a trick. Put some fine texturing sand in the palm of your hand and blow the sand to scatter it onto the wet caulk. This will roughen up the surface making it less noticeable.

Repairing wider cracks and gouges

For this job, you need to use a stucco patching compound. In order for the material to hold properly, exactly the right amount of water must be added. Follow the manufacturer's directions carefully. Thoroughly clean the crack or gouge as you did for small cracks. Use a putty knife or trowel to fill the area with a latex patching product. Thin the patch compound to the consistency of something like pancake batter. Dab a paintbrush into the wet material and holding one hand between the paintbrush and the wall, hit the brush handle against your hand splattering the material onto the repair area. This technique will match the texture of the surrounding stucco. You can smooth it out with a putty knife or trowel to the texture you want after the compound hardens a little bit.

Painting stucco

For smaller jobs, use a roller. Use an airless sprayer for larger jobs. For best results, do not use a paintbrush for stucco other than to add texture. Spray the paint onto the surface and then use a 3/4 inch to 1 inch deep nap roller to work the paint into the surface for uniform texture. It usually requires two coats to cover stucco sufficiently because stucco is so porous. It may also require a second coat to cover small cracks and your repairs.

Home Stucco Construction Project Timing - Doing it Right Vs Right Now

As it happens the next generation of EIFS has learned a lot from the last generation

From 1969 to about the year 2000 was the first generation of EIFS where the EIFS foam was installed directly to the substrate of a house. Where the EIFS exterior itself was the weather barrier. Before the year 2000 building codes did not require a secondary moisture barrier. The IRC (International Residential Code) in 2000 required this secondary moisture barrier on all sidings used over wood framed construction. The problem with the EIFS itself being the water barrier is that when any moisture infiltrated the system there was nowhere for it to escape. A properly installed first generation EIFS application that has been maintained has a very good chance of not having any problems. The EIFS can be done right, and the caulk and sealants maintained over the years, and still a window or roof leak can cause major damage over time on a first generation EIFS home. However, you can still have a first generation EIFS home inspected, and after passing the inspection get a warranty on the home through The Moisture Warranty Corporation.

The Next Generation of EIFS has grown and learned from the past along with the entire building industry. The unprecedented testing done has helped many industries, and has had an impact on the building codes. With the addition of a Air/Water barrier to the EIFS process has made significant improvements to the overall performance of EIFS, and is now mandatory on all wood framed construction whether you are using EIFS or not. The next generation of EIFS has been proven to drain water effectively. This overcomes the major issue with first generation EIFS.

The Next Generation of EIFS is a superior material, and out preformed all other exterior wall claddings (including brick, stucco, concrete block, and cementitous fiber board siding) in the Hygrothermal Performance testing by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which was funded by The US Department of Energy and EIMA. A study by The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows that over a 50 year life cycle of a building, the carbon footprint of EIFS is 1770 compared to brick at 8303. We are talking some huge numbers here, as Dryvit, one of the leading manufacturers, boast 'over 2 billion square feet of EIFS applied' you can begin to imagine what a positive impact having such a smaller carbon footprint has had on the environment.

Benefits of The Next Generation of EIFS - Superior Cladding

Thermal bridging virtually eliminated

Improved IAQ (Indoor Air Quality)

Improved overall energy performance of a building

Helps keep structural members at a consistent temperature, which extends life expectancy

The constant temperature helps structure member movement and stress from temperature swings that lead to cracking in concrete and stucco walls.